Owned by CBS, Last.fm is an online music network whose users get to listen to only the tunes that they want, when they want to listen to them. It is a music community, in the sense that it allows you to find people who have the same taste in music as yourself. The most interesting feature in the last.fm site is that it learns what you like and not only suggests other artists, but creates charts along with loads of other personalized features. The software learns more as you continue to listen. Within a couple of days when you have listened to enough songs, the service will start putting other listeners into your neighborhood, who have similar interests as you. This is a great way to find new artists. You can also listen to neighborhood radio stations that play songs based on what you and your neighbors like, and you can find similar artists by clicking through to artist pages. In addition, you will be able to snoop around and see what your friends have been listening to.

The fastest way get started is to create an account with a profile, and then to download and install the plug-in for your preferred music player (if it is supported). The software currently works with the most popular OS's; PC, Mac, and Linux. At last.fm, which has an easy-to-navigate and straightforward interface, you will be able to view categories such as music, users, listen, events, widgets, download, people listening now, upcoming concerts, top videos, hyped tracks and most popular tags. Some of the most popular tags mentioned are rock, seen live, alternative, indie, electronic, pop, metal, female vocalists, dance, punk, classic rock, jazz, indie rock, electronica, folk, singer-songwriter, hip-hop, hard rock and ambient. If you want you can also join the forum where you can discuss with other music lovers the songs you like and the ones that you would like to hear.

As for drawbacks, one of Last.fm's biggest ones is that stations have tendency to repeat same bands and there are some questionable choices in genre stations. Also, there are no rewind or fast-forward options. The software could also provide you with song lyrics-- it shouldn't be exceptionally difficult and it would make a great addition. Instant messaging capabilities would also be nice. Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, Last.fm monitors user behavior, and your listening choices are discussed with record labels, bringing up scores of privacy issues. If you can deal with these annoyances, then Last.fm might be a good choice for you.